BUSY! BUSY! BUSY!

Do you ever get a quick break and all of a sudden think, "Uhhhhh, so where did the last three weeks go?!" That's sort of how I am feeling right about now. Granted I LOVE having a full schedule to make the time go faster, after a few nonstop weeks I am suddenly longing for a weekend of peace and quiet. Thank Heavens for amazing family and friends who put up with the craziness that ensues when life gets busy, right? I owe my mother and boyfriend a million bucks for putting up with me! It really makes me think about the importance of setting aside time to take care of a pretty important person - YOURSELF. Seriously though, with a list longer than a mile of to-dos and if-I-have-time-I'll-try-to-dos, the last thing that is on my mind is to take time for myself.

Maybe it is something about my career field. From my experience, I know of very few nannies who are vigilent about self care. After taking care of everyone else for 50 hours a week, would you expect anything different? But that is where things get sort of tricky. If you don't take time to check yourself and make sure that YOUR needs are met, you won't be able to do your job to the best of your ability. When I get busy, I notice that normally essential tasks pertaining to myself suddenly become less important (laundry, meal prep, girly things) and all I can wrap my head around is how I will section up my day to get everything else completed. What is worse is that I start to make excuses for why I'm not getting my own tasks done, or I pull the "I'll do it tomorrow" for two weeks straight. And where does that get me? Well, it usually puts me in a yoga pants wearing, messy bun sporting, gym avoider, junk food consumer, poor excuse of a human being. Okay, maybe I am being a little hard on myself, but you get the point. I'm not myself when I get so busy. I don't make the time to put on real clothes or even wash my hair (gross, I know but we're all guilty of it.)

One of the things I'm really working hard on as of recently is to make sure I set up boundaries so that this doesn't happen. I know that it is a tad inevitable, but if I can make every effort to stray away from the crazy busy life then things are looking a lot more likely that I will wear real pants and maybe even put some makeup on. Boundaries, people. Boundaries. That is what it is all about. It means saying "no" to favors and requests from others at times. Because really, after working 47 hours last week, you need a night off. Not to say that you should never help others out, but clearly that is what got you into this mess. Saying no doesn't make you a bad person, a lazy person, or a rude person. It makes you a person who knows what you need to live a healthy life. Boundaries are HEALTHY! For the people pleasers out there like myself, trust me, I know how difficult it is to turn people down. Even if I have no desire to do something, somehow in the moment I respond like it's the best idea ever. Bad move. Practice saying no. I mean it. You have no idea how much those two little letters will better your life.

When it comes down to it, I cannot do my job if I'm not taking care of myself. I find myself worrying left and right about getting everything done and not being able to enjoy the little things in life. So my goal for the next few weeks is to set aside more me time and less everyone else time. Fingers crossed you'll see me with a fresh manicure and clean hair soon.

That being said, I have about 5 million things to do during nap time and the clock is ticking! Coffee, anyone?

[ Noodle does a pretty good job of protraying how I feel right about now - photo courtesy of my sweet niece's grandpa and east oaks photography ]

xoxo Nanny Sarah.